Advanced Storytelling Workshop

ADVANCED STORYTELLING WORKSHOP 2012

You will work incredibly hard during this week long workshop but by graduation, you will have new tools to take your storytelling to the next level. The program is designed for experienced TV and newspaper photojournalist, reporters and video journalist – anyone who tells stories with moving pictures, sound and words. If you attended the Oklahoma News Video Workshop, we pick up where they leave off.This hands-on program is a mixture of classroom sessions combined with opportunities for participants to head out into beautiful central Texas and produce on-deadline stories that showcase what they’ve learned. There are regular assignment meetings where story ideas are evaluated and refined. Great emphasis is placed on developing a clear focus before shooting begins. Stories are produced under real-world deadlines. The finished stories are constructively critiqued by a faculty that includes some of the best reporters and visual journalists in the industry today.

EVERYONE IS A PARTICIPANTSHOOT AND EDIT UNDER REAL WORLD DEADLINESCRITIQUES ABOUNDLOW STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIOCREATIVITY ON A DEADLINE

Lots of People Take Pretty Pictures. We will help you craft them into memorable stories.

Weekly Rates

Day Pass Information

Prospective attendees who can't spare the full 6 days for the Workshop can also sign up for a day pass. Day passes are only available for the first three days (Sunday–Tuesday), and will only cover the classwork: day pass attendees will not go out on assignments.

What to bring

The most important tool you’ll need isn’t really a tool, it’s an attitude!

Come ready to learn and leave your ego behind.

Taking the art of storytelling to the next level is the goal of this program.

Once accepted as a participant for the Advanced Storytelling workshop you should come ready to work. Pack as if you are preparing for a week on the road for your station/newspaper. Bring a variety of casual clothing. You will need to rent a car to get around for your assignments.

You’ll shoot SEVERAL packages during the week. Photojournalists must bring their own camera and editing gear, lav, and a wireless if possible. A tripod is essential and a battery powered portable light will be useful, as well as a camera rain cover. Don’t forget to pack your charger and headphones. A laptop computer for writing and research, with WIFI capabilities, is helpful but not necessary. WIFI is available at Texas State and The Embassy Suites. The Internet is essential for your story research. Assignments must be turned in on USB flash drives, in a format that can be played by Quicktime. Be sure your computer can handle this. You must bring your own blank DVDs for those assignments.

Bring at least three of your stories for critiquing on a DVD or on your laptop. One story should be your “best work to date” and another should be “one that got away” – a story that didn’t turn out as well as you’d hoped. Bring other stories you’d like critiqued; there will be several opportunities for one-on-one critiques with the faculty.

Come prepared to work.

Please make sure you are familiar with your editing equipment before you get to the workshop.

Faculty critique sessions and the end of the week “celebration” will be at the Embassy Suites.

We have negotiated a special NPPA rate of $149 which includes a breakfast buffet with made-to-order omelets, daily complimentary “happy hour,” and free parking. (For the economy minded, two people may share a room for the $149 rate.)

Make reservations at Tel: 1-512-392-6450 and, for the discounted rate, please be sure to mention the NPPA and the Advanced StoryTelling Workshop.

Texas State University

Welcome to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University!
We’re proud to be one of the largest and most innovative journalism and mass communication programs in the nation. With a vibrant and active faculty of scholars and professionals, we provide our students with the best training and preparation for productive and responsible careers in mass communication in the 21st century. We have more than 1,700 majors enrolled in our undergraduate and graduate programs — which makes the program one of the largest journalism and mass communication programs in the state of Texas – and the nation.
Overall, Texas State University has more than 34,000 students and is located in San Marcos, a growing community of 50,000 people about halfway between Austin and San Antonio. Located on the edge of the Texas Hill Country, Texas State enjoys a setting that is unique among Texas universities. The beauty of the crystal-clear San Marcos River and the stately cypress and pecan trees on the campus adds to the charm of the university’s picturesque setting. Our location on the banks of the San Marcos River provides recreational activities for students throughout the year.
Journalism Building at Texas State
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s academic curriculum is designed for students who want to learn cutting-edge communication skills and to develop a lifelong commitment to the responsibilities and privileges of being mass communicators in a high-tech, multicultural, global society. We provide students with a broad liberal arts education with a professional focus in five sequences: advertising, electronic media, mass communication, journalism and public relations. We also offer courses and graduate concentrations in Latinos and media, online media, andstrategic communication.
Student Center - Home of the Advanced StoryTelling Workshop
Our School provides professional student-operated media to the campus and community, including the Daily University Star newspaper; KTSW-FM, a 10,500 watt radio station; Bobcat Update, a twice weekly newscast airing on local cable; and Bobcat PRomotions, a student public relations agency serving clients on and off campus.
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University is accredited by ACEJMC – a designation earned through excellence and commitment to high standards in professional journalism and mass communication education and earned by only 20 percent of JMC programs in the county.

There are regular assignment meetings where story ideas are evaluated and refined.

Emphasis is placed on developing a clear focus BEFORE the shooting process begins. You will be shooting, writing and editing under real world deadlines.

We begin promply at 1 p.m. on Sunday and end Friday at 1 p.m. We are very busy from the first day until the end of the workshop on Friday.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE

Monday

9:00 – 10:00

Boyd Huppert, Jonathan Malat: Making the Team Work

10:00 – 10:45

John Goheen: Risk Taking Leads to Memorable Stories

10:45 – 11:15

Break

11:15 – 12:15

Daily Turn Stories That Sing

12:15 – 1:15

Lunch & Research your story ideas

1:15 – 1:45

John Goheen: Goheen Does Clinton

1:45 – 2:45

Scott Rensberger: It’s All About Character

2:45 – 3:15

Break and Group Photo

3:15 – 4:45

Boyd Huppert: What’s My Line

4:45 – 5:30

WECN Assignment Meeting Planning for Tue. Story

Team Leaders

5:30 – 10:30

Write & Edit Goheen’s Raw Assignment

Hotel Rooms

8:00 – 10:00

One-on-One Critiques at the faculty’s hotel

SUNDAY and MONDAY are the most classroom intensive days. For the remainder of the workshop, most days will consist of morning classroom sessions with afternoons and evenings reserved for shooting, writing and editing.

Final packages are due at 8:00 PM Thursday evening followed by an ALL WORKSHOP PARTY!

Several additional award winning faculty member will be announced soon!

Steve Sweitzer

Steve Sweitzer has over thirty years of broadcast TV news experience; shooting, writing, editing, field producing and operations management.

Among his numerous awards, he has been Indiana News Photographer of the Year and taken a first place in the Associated Press reporting category. He is the owner of Sweitzer Productions, a multimedia services company. For fourteen years Steve taught a variety of courses for the Journalism Department at Indiana University Purdue University (IUPUI) where he received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching; the school highest honor for a part-time faculty member.

He is a past president of the National Press Photographers Association and has received their Sprague Award, their highest honor for his achievements and contributions to the field of photojournalism.

Steve helped create this workshop and is its chair. He also chaired the Airborne TV Seminar and, with the assistance of the Poynter Institute, he created the Virtual Video Workshop.

Boyd Huppert

Boyd Huppert recently marked his 27th year as a reporter, including 15 years at KARE-TV in Minneapolis. During that time Boyd has become widely known for his work as a storyteller and teacher.

Boyd has presented more than 100 storytelling sessions – many with KARE photojournalist Jonathan Malat – at venues including Poynter Institute, National Writers Workshop, Danish Broadcasting, TV New Zealand and NRK in Oslo, Norway. He’s been part of the faculty at NPPA’s Advanced Storytelling Workshop for more than a decade.

Boyd grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. Prior to his arrival at KARE, he spent time at WSAW-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin, KETV in Omaha and WITI-TV in Milwaukee. Boyd and his wife Sheri have two sons, Sam and Matt, in college.

Boyd’s work has earned some of broadcast journalism’s top honors, including a national Emmy for feature reporting, the National Headliner Grand Award, three national Sigma Delta Chi awards and eight National Edward R. Murrow Awards. Boyd is also a five-time recipient of the NPPA’s Photojournalism Award for Reporting.

John Goheen

Few others have experienced life as a journalist the way John C.P. Goheen has; having covered virtually every type of natural disaster to include a deadly tsunami, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornados and more. He has covered many major national and international stories often working alone in harsh and high-risk environments. These assignments have garnered him countless accolades to include being named the National Press Photographer of the Year 3 consecutive times.

Goheen is well known for his unique style of storytelling…merging great images with great sound…no matter the topic. His work has served as an example to many current day one-man-bands as a model of how to work alone to achieve success while presenting powerful and engaging stories.

Today Goheen splits his time between freelancing and teaching. In 2010, he became a full-time faculty member of Loyola University Chicago’s School of Communication where he teaches video production and documentary filmmaking.

Jonathan Malat

Jonathon Malat is a general assignment photojournalist at KARE-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul. In 1998, The National Press Photographers Association awarded Jonathan the Ernie Crisp Award, recognizing him as the National Photographer of the Year. Malat has been honored with six Emmy awards and an Edward R. Murrow award. Recently Jonathan has been a speaker for the RTNDA, NATAS, SPJ, and NPPA. He has served on the faculty of the Poynter Institute and the NPPA Advanced Storytelling Workshop.

Joe Fryer

Joe Fryer's stories are now shared with a national audience. In 2013 he joined NBC News as a correspondent based in Los Angeles, reporting for NBC Nightly News, TODAY and MSNBC.

Before joining the network, he reported for KING 5 News, the NPPA's Large Market Station of the Year, where he focused on in-depth reports and daily assignments. Joe also spent 6 years at KARE-TV in Minneapolis, which is his hometown. Early in his career, he worked at WTVF-TV in Nashville, WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wis. and WKYT-TV in Lexington, KY.

Joe's a proud graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He has been honored with 4 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, including the prestigious Writing Murrow in 2006. His awards shelf also includes 15 Regional Emmys, 11 Regional Murrows, two National Headliners and the Sigma Delta Chi Award.

Scott Rensberger

Scott Rensberger has been in the TV news business for more than 25 years and has done just about everything. From the beginning, he has been a one-man-band.

Rensberger has worked extensively throughout Europe and has produced stories in all 50 US states, all 10 Canadian provinces and every corner of Mexico. His work as aired from Denmark to Australia to Japan. From Spain to Norway to Seattle. The BBC calls Scott Rensberger, "The best video journalist in the world."

Rensberger has won a National IRE for "Investigative Journalism" and has also been named "POY" by the National Press Photographers Association.

On the side, Rensberger works as a consultant and has trained thousands of journalists in more than 30 countries.

Whitney Shefte

Whitney Shefte is a Peabody, Emmy and Pictures of the Year International (POYi) Award-winning video journalist at The Washington Post, where she has worked since 2006. She has documented everything from AIDS in D.C., to gun violence in the U.S., to the forgotten conflict in Western Sahara. Whitney serves as an executive board member and is on the video and multimedia committees for the White House News Photographers Association and is mentorship chair of the non-profit organization Women Photojournalists of Washington. She also teaches video journalism at Georgetown University. Whitney is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication where she concentrated in photojournalism.